Review: LONG TIME LOST, Chris Ewan

• this edition published by Faber & Faber UK 2016
• ISBN 978-0-571-30747-0
• 455 pages
• source: my local library

Synopsis (cover)

Nothing remains hidden forever...

Nick Miller and his team provide a unique and highly illegal service, relocating at-risk individuals across Europe with new identities and new lives. Nick excels at what he does for a reason: he's spent years living in the shadows under an assumed name.

But when Nick steps in to prevent the attempted murder of witness-in-hiding Kate Sutherland on the Isle of Man, he triggers a chain of events with devastating consequences for everyone he protects - because Nick and Kate share a common enemy in Connor Lane, a man who will stop at nothing to get what he wants, even if it means tearing Nick's entire network apart. 

My take:

This was compulsive reading, to the point where I had to get up in the middle of the night to finish it.

Nick Miller was originally part of a task force in the Manchester City Police that ran the witness protection programme. Until his own family was in need of protection and the system failed. Then he went on the run, and set up his own protective system. All his clients have a single starting point, they are witness to crimes committed by Connor Lane.

Nick requires his clients to walk away from their old lives, from their families, and to establish a new identity outside the UK. They change their appearance, get new work, and wait to be called to provide evidence in a trial. They live on a knife edge, waiting for the phone call that tells them they must go on the run again. When they need him, Nick will be there.

For the most part this is a thriller, but there are unexpected twists at the end.


My rating: 4.4

About the author
Born in Taunton in 1976, he now lives in Somerset with his wife, Jo, and their daughter. Safe House, his first stand-alone thriller, was a number one bestseller in 2012 and was shortlisted for the Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award. Dead Line, his second thriller, was published in 2013 and is optioned for film. Dark Tides was shortlisted for CrimeFest's eDunnit award for the best crime fiction eBook

Review: EYES LIKE MINE, Sheena Kamal

• this edition published in 2017 by Zaffre Publishing
• ISBN 978-1-78576-255-0
• 297 pages
• #1 in the Nora Watts series

Synopsis (publisher)

Nora Watts is about to discover that you never really put your past behind you.

The call comes in just after five in the morning. I am immediately on guard because everyone knows that nothing good ever happens before seven. I've never heard the name Everett Walsh before, but according to him I may know something about a missing girl.

Troubled, misunderstood, and with more than enough problems of her own, Nora doesn't want to get involved. But then she sees the photograph. A girl, a teenager, with her eyes. How can she turn her back on her?

But going in search of her daughter brings Nora into contact with a past that she would rather forget.  As she begins to investigate she uncovers a dangerous conspiracy and embarks on a harrowing journey of deception and violence that takes her from the rainy streets of Vancouver to the snow-capped mountains of the Canadian wilderness and, finally, to the island where she will face her greatest demon: a shadowy figure from her own dark past.

My Take

Nora Watts works as a research assistant to a prominent investigative reporter. She lives, unconventionally, in the basement of the building in which she works.

Over fourteen years ago something dreadful happened to Nora, which she only partially remembers. She was left for dead in a ditch, and was in hospital in a coma for several months. When she emerged from the coma she was five months pregnant, too late for an abortion. Her doctors considered her a danger to her unborn baby, and she was put into protective custody. Her baby daughter was put up for adoption. All the details were supposed to be secret, but now someone has found her. Not only that, her daughter is missing.

Nora is a very striking character, not particularly likeable, but likely to resort to violence if it suits her.

I found the pattern of the novel un-settling - several very short chapters followed by much longer ones. There is no consistency. The "voice" of the missing girl is introduced without warning, although the book is mainly written through Nora. Occasionally there is third person narration.

However it is the search for the missing girl that keeps you reading, although the reasons why she is missing were a little hard to believe, and the final chapters almost impossible.

My rating: 4.4

About the author
Sheena Kamal holds an HBA in Political Science from the University of Toronto, which she attended on Canada's most prestigious scholarship, received for community leadership and activism around the issue of homelessness in Toronto. She went on to work in the film and TV industry, most recently as a researcher for a crime drama series being developed for television. Her research into crime and investigative journalism inspired Eyes Like Mine.

Review: NINE ELMS, Robert Bryndza

• format: Kindle (Amazon)
• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 939 KB
• Print Length: 416 pages
• Publisher: Sphere (1 November 2019)
• Sold by: Hachette Book Group (AU)
• Language: English
• ASIN: B07PLNY832

Synopsis  (Amazon)

A breathtaking, page-turning novel about a disgraced female detective's fight for redemption. And survival.

Kate Marshall was a promising young police detective when she caught the notorious Nine Elms serial killer. But her greatest victory suddenly became a nightmare.

Fifteen years after those catastrophic, career-ending events, a copycat killer has taken up the Nine Elms mantle, continuing the ghastly work of his idol.

Enlisting her brilliant research assistant, Tristan Harper, Kate draws on her prodigious and long-neglected skills as an investigator to catch a new monster. But there's much more than her reputation on the line: Kate was the original killer's intended fifth victim . . . and his successor means to finish the job.

My Take

Kate Marshall knows the Nine Elms Cannibal scenario better than most: she was, after all, the one who discovered the true identity of the killer, 14 years ago. She is also the mother of his son.

Since then Kate has left the police force and is struggling with alcoholic addiction.

Now she is a successful university lecturer and this story introduces a new investigative duo : a university lecturer (formerly a detective) and her assistant.  Kate is consulted by a pathologist who thinks he sees some similarities with a recent victim, to the original Nine Elms cases.
At the same time Kate is contacted by parents of a girl who disappeared 15 years ago, asking her to help them find out where their daughter is buried.

Both these cases present real challenges for Kate, stirring up memories she would rather not have.

Here is your chance to be in at the beginning of a new series, by a well established author.
Be warned though - some descriptions are pretty grisly.

My rating: 4.7

I've also read
4.8, THE GIRL IN THE ICE #1
4.8, THE NIGHT STALKER #2
4.6, DARK WATER #3
4.8, LAST BREATH #4
4.7, COLD BLOOD  #5
4.6, DEADLY SECRETS #6   

Review: A BETTER MAN, Louise Penny

• Format: Kindle (Amazon)
• File Size: 1021 KB
• Print Length: 447 pages
• ISBN: 1250066212
• Publisher: Sphere (August 27, 2019)
• Publication Date: August 27, 2019
• Sold by: Hachette Book Group
• Language: English
• ASIN: B07PCRM191
• Inspector Gamache #15

Synopsis  (Amazon)

The air is unbearably tense as Armand Gamache returns to the Sûreté du Québec for his first day of work since being demoted from its command to head of homicide.

Amid blistering personal social media attacks, Gamache sets out on his first assignment. He has been tasked with finding a missing woman, but while he leads the search for Vivienne Godin, Three Pines itself is threatened when the river breaks its banks, and a province-wide emergency is declared.

As the waters rise, a body is discovered - and the victim's distraught father contemplates a murder of his own. Gamache is a father himself, and is haunted by a question . . . what would he do, if his child's killer might walk free?

My take

I am a long time reader of the Armand Gamache series and once again Louise Penny has come up with an engrossing read.

It is a multi-stranded plot as you can see from the synopsis above. Gamache should be retired, in fact many believe he should be dismissed, perhaps even be in gaol, but he is returning to the Quebec Surete, not as the commander but to the head of homicide.

The story brings old comrades together and they work together on what will be Jean Guy Beauvoir's last case.

I loved it.

My rating: 4.9

I've also read
4.8, THE CRUELLEST MONTH
4.9, A RULE AGAINST MURDER
4.9, THE BRUTAL TELLING
5.0, BURY YOUR DEAD
5.0,  A TRICK OF THE LIGHT
4.5, THE HANGMAN - a novella
4.9, THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY
5.0, HOW THE LIGHT GETS IN
4.9, THE LONG WAY HOME
4.9, THE NATURE OF THE BEAST
5.0, A GREAT RECKONING
4.9, GLASS HOUSES 
5.0, KINGDOM OF THE BLIND

Review: SIX MINUTES, Petronella McGovern

• this edition published by Allen & Unwin 2019
• ISBN 978-1-76087-528-2
• 424 pages
• source: my local library

Synopsis (publisher)

How can a child disappear from under the care of four playgroup mums?

One Thursday morning, Lexie Parker dashes to the shop for biscuits, leaving Bella in the safe care of the other mums in the playgroup.

Six minutes later, Bella is gone.

Police and media descend on the tiny village of Merrigang on the edge of Canberra. Locals unite to search the dense bushland. But as the investigation continues, relationships start to fracture, online hate messages target Lexie, and the community is engulfed by fear.

Is Bella's disappearance connected to the angry protests at Parliament House? What secrets are the parents hiding? And why does a local teacher keep a photo of Bella in his lounge room?

What happened in those six minutes and where is Bella?

The clock is ticking…

This gripping novel will keep you guessing to the very last twist.

My Take

We all know of cases of young children who have gone missing in Australia and never been found.

Lexie Parker dashes to the shop across the road from the playgroup and returns just over 6 minutes later to find that 3 year old Bella has gone missing. The other 3 mums have not noticed her absence and the other 4 children are unreliable witnesses. This is a mother's worst nightmare and as the days roll on Lexie feels that it just reinforces what a bad mother she is.

But not everyone is telling the truth about themselves and their background and the reader is required to sift the evidence and to find out their secrets.

The local community rallies to look for Bella through the night, the police are called in, and they are not sure whether one of the parents is not to blame.

Social media is used to spread the word but this also invites the trolls to come out and point the finger at Lexie and her husband.

A really interesting read.

My rating: 4.3

About the author
Petronella McGovern is a writer and editor who grew up on a farm outside Bathurst, NSW. After working in Canberra for a number of years, she now lives on Sydney's northern beaches with her husband and two children.

Review: THE WAY THROUGH THE WOODS, Colin Dexter - audio book

• audio book available from Audible
• Inspector Morse Mysteries, Book 10
• first published 1992
• Narrated by: Samuel West
• Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
• Unabridged Audiobook, released 2017 in English by Macmillan Digital Audio

Synopsis (Fantastic Fiction)

Quietly, rather movingly, Strange was making his plea: 'Christ knows why, Lewis, but Morse will always put himself out for you.' As he put the phone down, Lewis knew that Strange had been right...in the case of the Swedish Maiden, the pair of them were in business again....

They called her the Swedish Maiden - the beautiful young tourist who disappeared on a hot summer's day somewhere in North Oxford. Twelve months later the case remained unsolved - pending further developments.

On holiday in Lyme Regis, Chief Inspector Morse is startled to read a tantalising article in The Times about the missing woman. An article which lures him back to Wytham Woods near Oxford...and straight into the most extraordinary murder investigation of his career.

My take

This series, so skilfully narrated by Samuel West, just gets better and better.

The novels really are "academic" crime fiction. The plots are never straight forward, and the actual plots do differ a little from the television series. And, as I've said before, Morse is a little different in a number of ways from the character that John Thaw created for television.

Morse is presented warts and all, at times adamantly sure he is correct when he is absolutely wrong. He is a womaniser, definitely a bachelor, not particularly healthy.

I remembered the basic plot of this book but that didn't reduce my enjoyment of it.

If you want a reading project for 2020 then you could do worse than reading the Morse series from beginning to end, either in print, or as an audio. I have added the complete list for you at the bottom of this post. My recommendation is to read them in order.

BTW this is the one where Max the pathologist is replaced by Laura Hobson after Max dies from a  massive heart attack.

My rating: 4.8

I've also read
4.3, INSPECTOR MORSE: BBB Radio Collection
4.5, THE SECRET OF ANNEXE THREE -audio book #7
4.6, THE WENCH IS DEAD- audio book #8
4.3, SERVICE OF ALL THE DEAD - audio book #4
4.4, LAST SEEN WEARING  - audio book #2
4.6, THE RIDDLE OF THE THIRD MILE - audio book #6
4.6, THE JEWEL THAT WAS OURS - audio book #9

Series

Inspector Morse
   1. Last Bus to Woodstock (1975)
   2. Last Seen Wearing (1976)
   3. The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn (1977)
   4. Service of All the Dead (1979)
   5. The Dead of Jericho (1981)
   6. The Riddle of the Third Mile (1983)
   7. The Secret of Annexe 3 (1986)
   8. The Wench Is Dead (1989)
   9. The Jewel That Was Ours (1991)
   10. The Way Through the Woods (1992)
   11. The Daughters of Cain (1994)
   12. Death Is Now My Neighbour (1996)
   13. The Remorseful Day (1999)

Review: THE BUTTERFLY ROOM, Lucinda Riley

• this edition published by Macmillan 2019
• ISBN781529-014990
• 628 pages
• source: my local library

Synopsis (publisher)

Posy Montague is approaching her seventieth birthday. Still living in her beautiful family home, Admiral House, set in the glorious Suffolk countryside where she spent her own idyllic childhood catching butterflies with her beloved father, and raised her own children, Posy knows she must make an agonising decision. Despite the memories the house holds, and the exquisite garden she has spent twenty-five years creating, the house is crumbling around her, and Posy knows the time has come to sell it.

Then a face appears from the past - Freddie, her first love, who abandoned her and left her heartbroken fifty years ago. Already struggling to cope with her son Sam's inept business dealings, and the sudden reappearance of her younger son Nick after ten years in Australia, Posy is reluctant to trust in Freddie's renewed affection. And unbeknown to Posy, Freddie - and Admiral House - have a devastating secret to reveal . . .

My Take:

This is an engrossing standalone. Although not my usual fare of crime fiction, it certainly contains many little mysteries to hold the reader's attention.

The story opens in June 1943 when 6 year old Posy is chasing butterflies in the garden of Admiral House with her father who is a renowned pilot. By the end of the war her father is dead and Posy is living with her grandmother. After the war he mother goes to live in France, and then in Italy but she and Posy never meet and Posy does not understand why? Can her mother hat her so much?

The novel takes us through various stages of Posy's life until her 70th birthday approaches and she sees someone who takes her back nearly 50 years .

An excellent read.

My rating: 4.6

I've also read
4.5, THE SEVEN SISTERS #1
4.5, THE STORM SISTER  #2
4.5, THE SHADOW SISTER  #3